Detroit 28, Raiders 27: How did that happen?

I wasn’t there, I’ll leave the in-depth analysis to Poole, Purdy and the others who were.

Big picture: That’s a killer, killer loss for the Raiders, who led 27-14 with just under 8 minutes to play and then gave up 71- and 98-yard drives to lose the game.

–Having lost three in a row at a very bad time, they’re basically do or die now.

Unless everybody else loses out, the Raiders must win their last two (at KC, home vs. SD) and still hope and hope for others to lose.

–They are in trouble, no way around that.

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–First choice for the Raiders would be for Denver to lose, of course. But for the Raiders’ purposes, it’d have to be to Kansas City on the last Sunday of the season, which, if the Raiders win out, would give the Raiders a better division record.

–Even if Denver loses to Buffalo next week, the Broncos can still virtually eliminate the Raiders with a victory over the Chiefs, no matter what the Raiders do in the last two games.

(Pending tonight’s game, the Chargers are still involved, but I’m only doing Denver vs. Raiders here. KC can theoretically get involved, too. And the three-team/four-team tie-breakers are crazy.)

–Why does Denver have that edge on the Raiders? Because even if the Raiders and Broncos finish with the same overall record, and same division record, Denver would win the next tie-breaker, according to my calculations.

–In that event, the division would come down to the third tie-breaker (after head-to-head and division record), and Denver cannot lose to the Raiders there.

–This is not the case for a possible three-way tie, but I’m not going there, too complicated at this point.

–Denver is 4-3 in common non-division opponents (they’d be tied in division record, so throw those out), with Buffalo coming up.

–The Raiders are 3-5 and done with common non-division foes.

—The big difference at this point? The Raiders loss to Miami (after Denver rallied to beat the Dolphins at the beginning of Tebow-mania) and the Raiders’ loss to Buffalo in Week 2.

–In the wild-card race, the Raiders have a shot, but there are so many teams vying for that, it’s hard to estimate what the Raiders’ chances are–except win out, see what happens.

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OK, to the game…

It was exciting to watch Sebastian Janikowski line up for a 65-yarder to try to win the game in the final moments, but a high snap threw off the timing a bit and Janikowski’s kick was deflected by Ndamakong Suh.

Again, I wasn’t there, so this will be quick, but this one does leave a lot to be discussed, such as:

* Hue Jackson’s screwy, go-for-it time-management protecting a lead at the end of games continues to be an issue. (Same thing happened at the end of the Houston game on Oct. 9, but the Raiders survived that one.)

This time he really got burned–Jackson called a Carson Palmer pass on third-and-2 at the Detroit 48, and Palmer just missed a deep ball Chaz Schilens, though Schilens had a shot at it.

Yep, Jackson caught the Lions defense expecting a run… because a run was ENTIRELY what should’ve been called to eat up as much clock as possible, and even a bad run play would’ve worked the clock to the 2-minute warning.

Instead, the incompletion stopped the clock, and when Detroit took over the Lions had 2:14 left, with the 2-minute warning coming up.

Which leads to…

* Man, that defense. If defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan wasn’t already in trouble (and I’d assume he was), this game probably assured his unemployment at the end of the season.

You ought to be able to feel pretty good about things defensively if you’re up by 6, with your opponent pinned on its own 2 with whatever time left.

Instead, the Raiders looked shaky the entire drive, including yielding an inexplicable 48-yard gain to Calvin Johnson over the deep middle.

What was going on? Safety Jerome Boyd was out-classed and there’s no great explanation for why Rolando McClain had responsibility for the deep middle in such a situation.

If the ball had been thrown out in front, Johnson scores easily. But a quicker TD actually would’ve helped the Raiders, it turns out. Detroit ate up about another minute to score the go-ahead TD, giving the Raiders the ball with only 39 seconds left.

* I understand the criticism of Jackson not going for 2 after Aaron Curry’s fumble-recovery TD put the Raiders up by 12 points (26-14), with the PAT to go, and 7:47 left in the game.

Yes, Jackson probably should’ve gone for 2–and of course, a 14-point lead is better than 13, especially when the Lions were about to score 14 points and win by one.

But I wasn’t thinking that at the time; I’m never eager to see coaches chase points with more than 5 minutes left in the game. Take your point, move forward.

It backfired this time. It made a lot of sense to go for 2. But there was one reason to kick the PAT–with that much time left, there was an outside chance Detroit could get three more possessions, and go TD, FG and then only need a FG at the end to win.

That won’t convince you. But I’m not ripping Jackson for it when I wasn’t thinking about going for 2 myself.

–Also, it’s never easy to go for two right after a DEFENSIVE score, since your offense hasn’t been on the field, has to warm-up in a few seconds, then punch in a tough scoring play immediately.

* Is Jackson himself in trouble? I’d say under normal NFL circumstances he’d be just moving to the hot seat, and in the Al Davis era, he’d be very close to getting fired.
But Raiders management is still re-formulating after Davis’ passing, and it’s not clear who could or would make such a decision.

Jackson has taken over much of the management role, and I doubt he’s going to fire himself.

The Raiders need a real GM first. They need to establish how the power structure works. THEN the Raiders can decide if Hue Jackson is the long-term coach.

That will probably take another year, I’d guess.

Tim Kawakami

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The other thing was going for it on 4th and 1 in the 1st quarter instead of kicking the FG and watching Palmer overthrow Denarius Moore in the end zone. Palmer had great numbers…but offensively the Raiders didn’t do much…1 FG and a Defensive TD.

Paul

If Hue Jackson wasn’t so busy getting his nails and toes done, and instead used that time to focus end of game management, the Raiders would never have been in such an unfavorable position to start with. Jokes aside, I’m really tired of seeing such an incapable all-talk, no substance coach like Hue Jackson. A more fat, sloth-like version of Mike Singletary. YUCK!!!

Rednursercr

I have to go with St.Raider and pin this on that ridiculous 4th and 1 attempt… what was the big rush? Jano gets paid big bucks to kick so let him kick! That’s what he does! Just seemed greedy and blew up in Jackson’s face.

What about the 65-yard field goal attempt to end the game? Would have had a better chance with a hail mary.There was zero chance of the ball going through the uprights at that distance.

Ron

Jackson is arrogant and ignorant of the capabilities of his team. The Lions were a beaten team in the 4th quarter with Bush and the O-line demoralizing the the cr@p out of them in the running game. Then on 3rd down needing only 2 yards to bleed the clock, Jackson calls a self-glorifying, high percentage “dagger” play only to stab himself in the a$$. That 1st down conversion was as good as a touchdown. The Raiders lost because of Jackson’s ego.

Woj

I was at this game. More of the same – even when Raiders were up 27-14 most fans in my section realized the chokers from Oakland could and would possibly turn victory into defeat. So when it happened nobody was terribly surprised. Face tne hard Facts Radiers fans: The Raiders are still a losing organization brought on by a decade worth of garbage like today’s vomit job against Detroit. We have no GM and if we did he should be terminating Bresnahan tomorrow and dumping at least 3 secondaary players. Thr whole lot of them can’t defend the pass and they rarely pick off anything. Outscored by 70 points after 14 games means R’s are lucky to have 7 wins. The best player is McFaderTinMan who bruises his little toe and is out half a season. Consider trading him or dumping him since he’s only good for 6 games a year. Reminds me of Charles TinMan Woodson who pulled himself out of a ton of games with R’s but now he plays hurt with G.B. See you in 2012 and the R’s better bring an enitrely new secondary, D coordinator , and a GM that knows something about terminating overpaid underperforming players on this roster. Totally abysmal today.

milo

Jackson is a dope but Detroit has been doing that all season, against equally crappy teams. Detroit is pretty good with Suh in there.

Make Hue GM, hire a good coach.

Jerry Jones

The Raiders did what the Miami Heat did in the Finals, game 2.

“At the end of the 13-0 run that put Miami out front 88-73, Wade stood in the corner of the floor nearest the Mavericks bench with his right arm extended and his wrist cocked for the longest time. He had just stabbed through a catch-and-shoot three and he was drawing out the crowd and exciting his team. By now he had scored 36 points, he had been unrelenting and unstoppable, and as he walked back to the bench after Dallas called timeout, LeBron James was dancing backward in front of him, shouting and throwing air punches at his chest like Dickie Eklund celebrating Micky Ward in the movies.”

The crowd was going wild, Aaron Curry was punching out the goal post, and the Raiders were celebrating as if they had won the Super Bowl. They thought the game was over. They relaxed and the Lions came back to score, stop them and then drive 98 yards
with no time outs in 1:35 to take the lead and steal the game.

Hue is a very good offensive coordinator, but a likes to gamble too much. Also likes to brag about gambles that have not yet succeeded like telling everyone the Carson Palmer trade is
“the greatest trade of all-time”.

The problem with your coach always bragging and promoting himself is that the team believes the coach and relaxes when the game is not over. He tells them he wants his team to be “bullies” and they go out to lead the NFL in penalties. Imagine John Madden or Tom Flores doing that.

In other words don’t say anything until you’ve done something!

Rider

Rick…are you an idiot? “Zero chance of the ball going through the uprights”. uhh, Jano has hit a 63 yarder this year and has the strongest leg in the league.. To say he had “zero chance” is just idiotic.

49er Realist

The Raiders problems go much deeper than Hue Jackson..though that’s not a bad place to begin the list. The entire Raider “culture” is reflected on the field..Lack of intelligent decision making (Jackson giving up a certain 3 before the half..challenging an obvious catch and throwing away a 2nd half time out)…Defensive backs not understanding their cover roles IN GAME 14!!!

It’s hard to know who will self destruct first in a tight game..Jackson or his players.

Big Suede

It is torture sometimes watching Hugh Jackson and Harbaugh make game decisions. It was obvious that the raiders had to go for a 2 pt conversion. One point doesnt do ANYTHING! Any kid who played just a little madden would know this. But professional coaches who dedicate their life to the game can’t learn a little strategy and math????

This is ridiculous.

willieD

It’s an 8-8 team, where they should be. You had to know when they let Nnamdi walk the rest of the secondary was going to suffer if there wasn’t enough pass rush. One week it’s the run D, then the pass D. too inconsistent to be real contender. And all too capable of allowing what happened yesterday at the end—for not exactly the first time all year.
Bottom line: not enough talent, and poorly led.

outtamojo

This one is on the coaches- Hue for not settling for fg and not going for 2 late in the game and Bresnahan for his bad schemes and calls.

sureshot

You HAVE to go for two in that situation. Of course there’s a chance that the other team will have three possessions, but that chance is microscopic. The odds definitely favor the other team having two opportunities. Kicking the PAT was a terrible decision (and not in hindsight – I yelled at the TV as soon as I saw Sea-Bass out there).

Is it tougher for your offense to come out cold and convert a two point conversion when they haven’t been out there? Maybe. But I’d have to think it would also be tougher for the defense to stop it when they’re cold as well. Either way, the odds say you must get two and go up two touchdowns. Anyone who didn’t see a two point loss coming doesn’t know this team/organization.

As far as attempting the field goal to win it, that was a good call. It’s just too bad they let Suh (I wish he was suspended for just one more game) in to block it. I would have loved to see if Sea-Bass had the distance. We all know he is capable of such things (Better odds of a Hail Mary? Come on Rick!). It would have been worth watching that collapse just to see if he had the distance/accuracy from 65 yards away.

fumblin’ frank

Get rid of Chuck Bresnahan…bring in Jack Del Rio for D coordinator

Justin Credible

you get what you pay for.

The Raiders’ philosophy on not paying experience Head coaches cost them the game. If they had an experience or better prepared coach. They should’ve won the game easily. Hue Jackson’s inexperience has cost them a couple of games that should’ve kept the division lead.

Hue has definitely bit more than he can chew ever since Al past away.
Amy Trask and Al’s son just gave Hue too much power and it blew up on their face.

TheAutumnWind

Fire Hue
Fire Bresnahan

Hue is all talk and no walk and now is just making a complete jack@$s of himself. Seriously Hue? Explaining to the media how you love getting mani’s and pedi’s for your nails? Not the Raider way man — if Upshaw or Tatum were around they would slap Hue right across his smug face…

Bresnahan has always been a bum and should never get a job in the NFL ever again. Our defense is the worst in the league and can’t stop a feakn nosebleed under Chuck.

Hue and Chuck = Pathetic Buffoons

Had your chance… Gambled and lost, now its time to pay the piper. No shows and heartbreaking choke jobs — as you say Hue “that’s on you.”

Hire an actual GM like the rest of the league and cut the cord on these clowns.